Qingyu Case: Female Minister of Dali Temple

Master Gu stood up suddenly, and the chess piece in Gu Yingzhao's hand fell onto the chessboard with a "click", knocking several chess pieces to other places.

Such a big reaction? Chen Shao looked at the chessboard in surprise.

The chess game was ruined, there was no point in playing again. After throwing the chess piece in his hand back into the chess box and slowly raising one leg, Chen Shao looked at the two people with grim expressions, and thought about Zhao Liangzhu's words from beginning to end, but did not find anything special.

But the two people's reactions could not be faked.

There are only two possibilities. One is that what seemed very ordinary to her was actually not ordinary. The other is that the relationship between their two families was not as deep as Ding Lisheng and Lei Dehou said.

As for which possibility it is... Chen Shao looked at the two again, and said slowly and deliberately: "I have inquired about it. There are only two cargo stores in Hongyuan County, one is Changshun and the other is Yongshun. The owners of Changshun Cargo Store are your Gu family and Zhu family, and the owners of Yongshun Cargo Store are the Fan family and Qi family. At the beginning, both cargo stores tried to prevent students from going to the warehouse. I think you know best who came up with this idea."

Master Gu's heart was already in turmoil. He knew that the Zhu family did not trust them, but he never imagined that the result of the Zhu family's distrust would be the destruction of the Gu family.

Gu Yingzhao was no better than him. He had already prepared himself for the Zhu family to take this opportunity to ask the Gu family for a huge sum of money as usual, but he didn't expect them to be so resolute. It seemed that they still hadn't let it go or never believed that Zhu San died to protect Gu Wanli. Or, because of Zhu San's death, the Gu family's frequent concessions to them in various aspects over the years had widened their appetite!

Although it was hard to believe, Mr. Gu still said, "It's not me."

Chen Shao asked slowly, "Who do you think it is?"

Master Gu did not answer but asked, "Sir, are you sure that the person who said these words was a clerk from Anrentang?"

"How dare you!" Gu Yingzhao shouted angrily, "Since the young master is asking you this question, is it possible that it is false?"

"Master Gu, please don't be angry," Chen Shao said calmly, "It's normal for Master Gu to have such doubts. It's rare for me to meet a worthy opponent, and I don't want to ruin this opportunity because of a few gossips from others, so I didn't interrogate that guy. Thinking about it carefully, this move is indeed a bit inappropriate. How about this, let's not talk about it for now, and wait until I go back to interrogate him clearly, how about it?"

How could Gu Yingzhao not hear such soft but hard words? He suppressed his temper, looked at Master Gu indifferently, and said coldly: "Why don't you tell the truth!"

Master Gu insisted, "I didn't order it."

Gu Yingzhao questioned: "If you didn't instruct them, then who did? If you didn't instruct them, why would the guys at Anrentang say such things?"

Master Gu lowered his eyes slightly and continued to insist: "My order was to ask them to keep an eye on those students and not let them mess up the goods that were to be shipped in the next few days. Maybe the people at the goods company misunderstood what I said."

Gu Yingzhao sneered: "Who did you order? Arrange for someone to invite him over immediately and confront him face to face!"

Master Gu couldn't help but look up at him. Seeing that he didn't seem to be acting, his heart sank, and he finally said, "It was Master Zhu who gave the order."

Gu Yingzhao kicked him angrily, "What's going on? Tell the truth!"

Master Gu got up from the ground, dusted himself off, and said stiffly, "It was me who suggested that the people at the warehouse keep a closer eye on the goods so that the students wouldn't mess up the goods that were to be shipped in the next few days. Master Zhu thought it was unnecessary to go through so much trouble, so he ordered the people at the warehouse to stop the students and not let them enter the warehouse."

The Zhu family informed Master Gu that he would not allow students to enter the warehouse, but Master Gu defended the Zhu family in this way.

interesting.

What’s even more interesting is the overwhelming shock and anger in Gu Yingzhao’s eyes.

What is he shocked and angry about?

Chen Shao stood up and slowly picked up the chess pieces one by one and put them into the box. "The students came to the warehouse just to check the records of Shi Xing's odd jobs. It doesn't matter whether they go to the warehouse or not. Since this matter is a misunderstanding, let's end it here."

"He is the cause of this matter," Gu Yingzhao stood up, "Young Master, you don't need to show mercy, whether you beat him or scold him."

Chen Shao glanced at Master Gu and smiled slowly, "It's no wonder Master Gu is on guard against them. Those students are indeed a bit reckless."

After picking up the last chess piece and putting it into the box, Chen Shao said, "Let's leave it at that for tonight. I'll come back to ask Master Gu for advice another day."

"It's my fault after all," seeing Chen Shao was about to leave, Master Gu quickly made amends, "If you have anything to do in the future, just tell me. As long as I can do it, I will not refuse!"

Chen Shao responded with a playful "OK" and turned away.

Gu Yingzhao and Gu Erye sent her to the gate, and watched her carriage go away before turning back. As soon as he returned to Guangrenyuan, Gu Yingzhao kicked Gu Erye again. Gu Erye staggered and held on to the chair beside him to steady himself. Seeing this, Gu Yingzhao kicked him again, and this time, the chair fell to the ground with Gu Erye.

The coffee table next to the chair was also affected, and the tea sets on the coffee table fell to the ground one after another, accompanied by crackling sounds, and broke into countless porcelain pieces.

"Back then, Zhu San saved your life. To repay him, our Gu family has been giving him benefits in all aspects over the years. We have also been courteous to Master Zhu and Master Zhu Er, and have never argued over anything. Isn't that enough?" Unlike the angry look in front of Chen Shao and the easy anger in front of the Zhu family, Gu Yingzhao's face was gloomy and his voice was as cold as ice. "Now, because of unfounded suspicion, they intend to destroy our Gu family, and you don't want to defend them! Ha, Zhu San's life is not that valuable, and similarly, your life is not that valuable either!"

Master Gu felt a chill in his heart. He carefully avoided the broken porcelain and stood up, saying in defense, "What Master Chen Liu said may not be true."

Gu Yingzhao looked at him coldly, as if he were looking at a dead man. "What Mr. Chen Liu said may not be true. I just want to ask you one question: did you instruct the people in the warehouse to stop those students from entering the warehouse?"

Master Gu opened his mouth and was about to say no, but after meeting his gaze, his mind suddenly became clear. It didn't matter whether he had instructed the people from the goods store to stop those students. What mattered was the information hidden behind this matter!

He did not instruct the people in the cargo store to stop the students from entering the warehouse.

However, the Zhu family said that he ordered it.

Why would the Zhu family do something that could be clarified by confronting the Anrentang staff? There is only one answer: the Zhu family is not afraid of them confronting them.

Why are they not afraid? There is only one answer: the people in Anrentang and even the goods company are all from the Zhu family.

Another possibility...

To say that he was the one who ordered it was actually Chen Shao trying to sow discord between the Gu and Zhu families.

Where did Chen Shao get this information?

Just like teaching Ding Lisheng a lesson, when they were planning to have the warehouse not allow those students to enter, only the four of them were present. In other words, if it wasn't the Zhu family that betrayed them, then it was the Fan family or the Qi family.

The person who spread these words was a clerk of Anrentang. In other words, if it was the Fan family or the Qi family who reported it, then they would have already reached into the heartland of the Gu family and the Zhu family. But this possibility was too small, so the goods store was still jointly owned by the Gu family and the Zhu family, but in reality it was already owned by the Zhu family alone.

Master Gu slumped into a chair, his face as pale as snow.

"Immediately arrange for someone to keep an eye on Master Zhu!" After giving his instructions to the steward, Gu Yingzhao turned around and saw his expression. He couldn't help but sneered, "Finally figured it out?"

Master Gu murmured, "Why would the Zhu family do this?"

He really couldn't understand. Even if the Zhu family hated the Gu family, the fate of the Wen family was still there. How could they be sure that Chen Shao would not destroy the Zhu family after destroying the Gu family?

Gu Yingzhao sneered twice: "Did you eat up the Ren family? You only saw the end of the Zhu family, but not the glory of the Ren family?"

The last bit of color on Master Gu's face faded away completely.

"We all underestimated the Zhu family!" Gu Yingzhao said sinisterly, "When Zhu San died, our Gu family made concessions in every way in order to repay him, but in their eyes, it confirmed the fact that we murdered him!"

Master Gu hung his head and said dejectedly: "What should we do now?"

"Now..." Gu Yingzhao sat down, took two sips of herbal tea, and grinned, "Now we should be thankful that Mr. Chen Liu wants to win over my Gu family instead of his Zhu family."

Master Gu's pupils suddenly shrank. He couldn't imagine what would happen to the Gu family if Chen Shao first went to the Zhu family. However, before he could continue asking, the steward came in, "Master, Master Zhu is here."

Gu Yingzhao leaned back in his chair and asked coldly, "Is he the only one?"

The steward took a quick look at Master Gu and replied cautiously, "He is alone. Master Zhu seems to have gone to the Fan family."

"Fan family, haha," Gu Yingzhao sneered twice and ordered in a cold voice, "Since he went to Fan's house, you should also go to Fan's house."

Master Gu asked, "What should I say when I go to the Fan family?"

"You don't need to say anything when you go to the Fan family," Gu Yingzhao said calmly, "Just go and ask Mr. Fan to explain to Mr. Zhu that Mr. Chen Liu really came to the Gu family just to play chess."

Master Gu straightened his clothes and said, "I'll be right there."

Gu Yingzhao said "hmm" in a neutral tone. After he left, he told the steward, "Go and invite Brother Zhu in."

Master Zhu strode into the main hall, glanced left and right, and asked knowingly, "Has Sixth Master Gu left?"

The coldness on Gu Yingzhao's face had disappeared. He took the teapot from the steward, poured him a cup of tea himself, and said, "Let's go."

Master Zhu took the teacup and put it aside: "Why are you here so early today?"

Gu Yingzhao sighed: "This is exactly the question I wanted to ask Brother Zhu."

"Me?" Mr. Zhu asked in surprise, "What does it have to do with me?"

Gu Yingzhao looked into his eyes and said, "Mr. Chen Liu did not come here to play chess today, but to ask me to verify the matter of the goods company."

Master Zhu said, "Oh," and asked, "What happened to the cargo store?"

"Today, a clerk at Anrentang reported to Master Chen Liu that the company had stopped the students from entering the warehouse for an inventory, and that it was Wanli who ordered it." Gu Yingzhao said slowly, "But Wanli said that he did ask the company's people to keep a close eye on the students and not let them mess up the goods that were to be shipped, but he did not say that they were not allowed to enter the warehouse."

No wonder Zhang An was fine. It turned out that he came to ask me directly. But so what? Master Zhu asked disapprovingly, "If it wasn't Wanli who ordered it, then who ordered it?"

Gu Yingzhao said bluntly: "Zhu Xinggong."

That is Master Zhu Erye.

After being stunned for a moment, Master Zhu laughed and said, "Brother Gu is really good at joking."

"I'm not kidding." Gu Yingzhao said calmly.

Master Zhu stopped laughing and said provocatively, "Since Brother Gu said it was a show of respect, why don't you confront him?"

Gu Yingzhao said calmly: "Originally, she wanted to find someone to confront, but Young Master Chen Liu said that it was not necessary and she believed in the Gu family."

Mr. Zhu's face suddenly darkened.

……

Although he only played two games of chess, it was already midnight when he left Gu's house.

Chen Shao leaned against the soft pillow, looking at the silent streets of Hongyuan County under the moonlight, tapping lightly on the car wall, looking quite pleased.

Chan Yi reached out of the car window and gently stroked the cool breeze: "Why are you so happy, young master?"

Chen Shao smiled and said, "Am I happy?"

Chan Yi nodded, "Since leaving the Gu Mansion, the corners of my mouth have been raised and have never dropped."

"Really?" Chen Shao touched the corner of his mouth and said slowly, "I just suddenly understood what the great man once said: 'Struggle with the sky, the joy is endless; struggle with the earth, the joy is endless; struggle with people, the joy is endless'."

Chan Yi tilted her head: "What do you mean?"

"It can only be understood, not expressed in words." Chen Shao also followed her example and stretched his hand out of the window, feeling the night breeze blowing through his palms. The corners of his mouth couldn't help but rise a little more.

When she was about to leave the Gu family, she actually hadn't figured out where the shock and anger in Gu Yingzhao's eyes came from. She had originally planned to go back to the prefect's mansion and ask Ding Lisheng if there was any old grudge between the Gu and Zhu families. But at the moment she was about to leave, when Master Gu said that he would never refuse as long as he could do it, she suddenly understood.

A seemingly simple act of reporting actually hides so many meanings.

The first is to sow discord between her and the Gu family;

A warning, warning the Gu family not to act rashly;

The first level of display is to show the powerful strength of the Zhu family.

She was a forensic doctor in her previous life. After coming here, she learned medical skills from Huiyin. During the two years she followed Chen Zhao in the capital, she also learned political strategies, but they were all on paper. After arriving in Hongyuan County, whether it was investigating the serial murder case or destroying the Wen family, she started with the case. Now, when dealing with the Zhu family, it was indeed the first time she used the word "strategy".

Her plan was too simple.

The current achievements were achieved only by relying on the "fame" accumulated from the previous two cases.

She had not thought deeply about the Zhu family's denunciation beforehand, but simply regarded it as a means to further sow discord between the Gu family and the Zhu family. Now, after understanding the deeper meaning behind the Gu family's reaction, she suddenly realized that this was much more interesting than solving the case.

only……

She knows her own limitations and knows that she is definitely no match for the Zhu and Gu families in terms of strategy. But as the saying goes, in the face of absolute strength, any conspiracy is just a paper tiger.

Well, a strong dragon cannot defeat a local snake, and her strength is no match for him.

Then we can only use another common saying: The only way to defeat martial arts in the world is speed.

After returning to the prefectural governor's residence, Chen Shao did not even bother to rest. He immediately ordered Fu Jiu, "Go and invite Ding Lisheng over!"